


The Rest Is Unimportant

by kenezbian



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-02-07 02:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1881825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenezbian/pseuds/kenezbian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam finds Barbara collapsed in the parking lot of Stage 5, surrounded by infected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rest Is Unimportant

"I found Barbara in the parking lot. I think she’s dying."

Adam swallowed hard and shrugged off the feeling of deja vu that washed over him as he laid the young woman on the table. Hard to believe that was less than a year ago.

Miles and Burnie ran up and looked her over. Sunburned, skin taut, eyes sunken, nails and hair cut short, duct tape wrapped around her limbs, fists clutching two stained kitchen knives - she had been fighting for a long time.

"Any wounds? Open sores? Signs of infection?" Burnie asked methodically as he pried the knives from her fingers.

"I don’t see any," Miles said, lifting her shirt. "She’s so dehydrated though, Christ I’m leaving dents in her skin."

"IV," Burnie said. "Find me a vein." He ran off to his office.

"I need scissors to cut this shit off," Miles mumbled, and he ran off too. "Stay with her!" he shouted at Adam over his shoulder. "Make sure she keeps breathing!"

Adam shrugged out of his gun holster (when was the last time he was able to holster his gun?) and laid it on the floor, then sat at the table. He held her hand and smoothed his thumb over the back, frowning at how her skin felt under it.

The outside door finally slammed shut, and Kyle and Blaine rounded the corner. “How is she?” Blaine panted, walking over.

"Not infected," Adam replied, and the two young men sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness," Kyle mumbled, bending down to pick up Adam’s holster. "We’re lucky we got back inside, the crowd is thick today. Here, you stay with her, I’ll clean your shotgun."

"Thanks," the bearded man replied, and they walked away too. Miles returned with the scissors and began cutting off the sleeves of Barbara’s shirt.

"You are NOT wasting an IV kit on her! We only have four left!" Gus shouted in the office, and the young men stared at each other.

"She’ll die without it!" Burnie shouted back.

"She might die with it and we can’t waste it!" Gus was in charge of inventory; he hated waste.

"You’d be able to live with yourself if Barb died?"

"I’ve already got Esther and Geoff on my hands, what’s one more?"

They stared at the table awkwardly; Gus was one of the first ones to show up and he had Griffon and Millie in tow, but he never said what happened to Geoff and Esther, only that they were dead.

"Yeah, well, you might not give a shit but I do. Barb gets an IV." They heard footsteps and Burnie came into view, face red and hair disheveled. "Did you find one?"

"Left hand seems best, but I don’t know if—" Miles said, pointing.

"Nah, this is great. Good thing she always had good veins," Burnie mumbled, tying the tourniquet and feeling her hand for the right spot. "Yeah, this is fine."

Adam watched as Burnie deftly poked the needle into her hand and got the IV started, then handed the bag to Miles. “Here, hold this up until I find something to hang it on.”

"Achievement Hunter has a coat tree," Miles told him.

Burnie nodded and walked off, and Miles turned to Adam. “No sign of Arryn?”

Adam’s eyebrows furrowed. “None. Why?”

Miles adjusted the bag in his grip and avoided Adam’s gaze. “They were together at our place. If Babs is here now, then where’s Arryn?”

Adam didn’t say anything, just stared at the table and continued holding Barb’s hand; he swore he could feel her skin softening already, but it could have just been his hopeful imagination.

Burnie came back with the coat rack and stood it up, then took the bag from Miles and hung it up. “Ashley and Griffon are setting up a place for her in the Achievement Hunter office. Once the IV is gone we can bring her down there.”

"I’ll do it," Adam volunteered.

"Good. Miles, will you check her office? She might have a change of clothes there. Once the IV is done she’ll need a bath and those clothes need to get burned…" He trailed off and walked away, Miles following.

The bungalow was quiet, and Adam reached up to brush what was left of Barbara’s bangs out of her face. “God, Barbara, what happened?”

Her breathing changed, and she gasped as she came back to consciousness. “Get away, get off—” she croaked, swatting at Adam’s hand.

"Shh, shh, Barbara, it’s me, it’s Adam," he whispered, grabbing her wrists. "You’re at Stage 5, you made it, you’re safe."

Her eyes were wide, and she stared at him. “Water,” she mouthed, frowning.

Adam got up and got a bottle and a straw, then held it to her mouth. “Only wet your whistle, you’re very sick,” he said, and she took the smallest sip.

"I made it?" she asked, looking around. "I got here?"

"Yes." He sat back down and set the water bottle out of her reach.

"Who else is here?"

Adam looked at the floor. “Kyle, Blaine, and me are the perimeter patrol, we’re the ones that found you. Burnie and Gus are here, they’re in charge. Miles, Ashley, Griffon, and Millie have all made it here too.”

Barbara’s eyes closed. “And that’s it?”

"There’s still a lot of people not accounted for. They might be coming too."

"How many  _are_  accounted for?” she asked, frowning.

"…too many." Infected faces flashed across Adam’s brain, and he shook his head. "Way too many. But we’re safe here."

"Miles," she said suddenly, trying to sit up. "I gotta see Miles, I gotta tell him—"

"Tell me, and I’ll tell him. What is it?" He pushed her down.

"I left her place three days ago. She was safe. I told her I would bring help." Barbara was panting. "Please, we gotta—"

"You rest. We’ll take care of Arryn."

Barb’s eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell unconscious. Adam closed his eyes and lifted her hand to his face and pressed it against his cheek; he could already hear the fight between Miles and Gus, about whether using the gas in a car would be worth it to go get Arryn, and who would go with, and what time of day and if they should make a hospital or food run at the same time—

But it didn't matter. Barbara was here, and she was alive. The rest was unimportant now.


End file.
